Just Had Thigh Lift 7/17/18

I had openings at my incisions in my groin after my thigh lift. I think that is common due to where it it and everything pulling. I was only 36 at the time and still had that issue.

For me the major discomfort came from the swelling and the incisions at the top and groin area. If you think he doesn't have to go that far up it may not be as bad.

That is what I'm hoping! Thanks!!

Marla

Having had a thigh lift actually on my 58th birthday, I can tell you while I look pretty damn good, surgeons aren't magicians. I always say as formally obese people the quality and quantity of our skin is different- and as a not-so-young-anymore my skin has extra challenges. Gravity happens.

The thighs are the hardest of all the surgeries- highest rate of minor complications. He doesn't necessarily have to do a complete re-do ... He sounds like a surgeon who you have worked well with in the past, the best thing is to talk to him and see what he has to say.

Good Luck

NYMom222: What you said is what I've read everywhere. The thighs are the hardest. I've done everything else, so I can compare. I trust him to make good. He can't be blamed for a senior citizen body. I'm just in an "I don't wannaaaaaaaaaaaa" mood. I was there before I did it the first time, but bit the bullet. By the time all of this heals -- the open wound, etc., maybe I'll forget how bad "labor" was. lol (BS -- it's been almost 23 years and I definitely remember how bad labor was...)

Thank you!

Marla

I don't have a senior citizen body and I had major wound dehiscence on both my thighs in the groin area with my thigh lift in May (and with my body lift) so I can commiserate. I can't do anything about it yet, but I imagine some scar revision is going to be necessary to look normal. I'm not looking forward to it.

I'm lucky enough that the groin area is the only place with the openings. The rest of the thighs are closed beautifully and almost invisible. Hopefully, when they are redone starting lower down than the groin, they will behave in the same manner as long as he remains conservative in what he removes. Have your wounds closed up at all since May? Mine, after almost a month, have not closed or grown any covering at all. I'm wondering if it will have to wait for a skin graft from when he is able to redo the thighs and use my own skin? I must sound like an idiot, as I have no idea how that kind of thing works... I'm not a doctor, I fantasize being one in my brain!

Marla

You shouldn't need a skin graft. Mine was open about 2 inches wide at the top tapering to about 1/2 wide down my thigh about 8 inches on one thigh and 2 inches on the other. What kind of wound care does your surgeon have you doing? Mine had me using wet to dry dressings - gauze dipped in Dakin's Solution packed into the wounds and changed when dry twice a day. After the area had started to heal, he switched me to medicinal honey. It was not a fast process by any means (8 weeks I think) and my worst opening on my hip LBL incision just finally closed last week (my surgery for both was May 8th). But they all closed without any surgical intervention. As to how they look, the groin scars are ugly. The rest I think will improve with time.

Wow! That is a huge opening on that one thigh -- I'm so sorry!!! It sounds like what happened with my LBL, when my entire back opened up -- talk about trauma!!!! It had to be re-stitched. I couldn't walk around with an open waist in the back.

As for my thighs, the last 2 weeks he has me putting on Bacitracin with gauze pads twice a day. He was going to give me that silver stuff, but I have a faint memory of having a problem with it when he gave that to me last time I had a wound, so he went to the bacitracin. My left thigh is open a little bit, but open nevertheless. The wound near the right groin area is round, the size of a half dollar. I see things I shouldn't see when looking at my thigh... red round things, tendons, all kinds of things.... don't ask! I finally found a tape on a roll from NexCare, blue, that sticks but does not hurt when I remove it and sometimes it can even be put back on and it sticks again as long as nothing is goopy from the Bacitracin or wet. Thank G-d, because I was getting blisters from removing tape twice a day. This stuff is a miracle.

Best of luck, and thank you so much for sharing your experience!

Marla

Fiesty,

Thank you for your story.

I too am 50+ and finally decided to have surgery on my arms & a lift. I will definitely ask about my skin elasticity pertaining to this surgery. You said you had batwings but are ok with your arms now?

I'll look at your previous postings and also those of the "banging hot body of a 54" vet *****plied to your post. It never entered my mind about the "age" of my skin, just the thought of having implants removed when I'm in my 60's

I had my arms done about 12 years ago, when I was about 51. I had no real problems with them except how swollen and tight my arms felt in the beginning. The incisions were no problems, but they were fairly prominent and strangers would make comments ("It's really none of your business, but I had surgery"). After a while they faded pretty well and now I wear sleeveless all the time. HOWEVER, I am now turning 64 and I've lost at least 30 lbs. since. I've also gained 12+ years and I have normal senior citizen arms. They move, they hang a little bit. i have no problem with that. I remember Bette Midler, maybe 10 years ago, in one of her shows, held up her bare arm, shook her hanging little bat wings with her other hand and said, "How old would you say this woman is?" in that Sophie Tucker voice. It was hilarious and made me less hung up on the normal aging process that has nothing to do with obesity.

Breast implants can be tricky and for me it has meant fixes until them are right and stay where they belong -- that is in my immediate future after my replacement of one in July which is moving around. Annoying, but it is not a big deal surgically. But when I first had the implants put in in 2012, it took 4 surgeries to get them to stay put (finally putting in an internal bra). In your 50s, you have plenty of time left to enjoy your body -- they just have to take some extra steps and it might be a bit more challenging. But in the end it eventually gets taken care of for most people.